Ellen personally attended
Mrs. Snellings, the master's wife. Mack being quite young did not have
any particular duties assigned to him, but stayed around the Snellings
mansion and played. Sometimes "marster" Snellings would take him on his
knee and talk to him. Mack remembers that he often told him that some
day he was going to be a noble man. He said that he was going to make
him the head overseer. He would often give him candy and money and take
him in his buggy for a ride.

Plantation Life: The slaves lived in cabins called quarters, which were
constructed of lumber and logs. A white man was their overseer, he
assigned the slaves their respective tasks. There was also a slave known
as a "caller." He came around to the slave cabins every morning at four
o'clock and blew a "cow-horn" which was the signal for the slaves to get
up and prepare themselves for work in the fields.

All of them on hearing this horn would arise and prepare their meal; by
six o'clock they were on their way to the fields. They would work all
day, stopping only for a brief period at midday to eat. Mack Mullen
says that some of the most beautiful spirituals were sung while they
labored.

The women wore towels wrapped around their heads for protection from the
sun, and most of them smoked pipes. The overseer often took Mack with
him astride his horse as he made his "rounds" to inspect the work being
done. About sundown, the "cow-horn" of the caller was blown and all
hands stopped work, and made their way back to their cabins. One behind
the other they marched singing "I'm gonna wait 'til Jesus Comes." After
arriving at their cabins they would prepare their meals; after eating
they would sometimes gather in front of a cabin and dance to the tunes
played on the fiddle and the drum. The popular dance at that time was
known as the "figure dance." At nine p.m. the overseer would come
around; everything was supposed to be quiet at that hour. Some of the
slaves would "turn in" for the night while others would remain up as
long as they wished or as long as they were quiet.

The slaves were sometimes given special holidays and on those days they
would give "quilting" parties (quilt making) and dances. These parties
were sometimes held on their own plantation and sometimes on a
neighboring one. Slaves who ordinarily wanted to visit another
plantation had to get a permit from the master. If they were caught
going off the plantation without a permit, the